Among children with a history of CerebralMalaria or severe malarial anemia, long-term follow-up demonstrated lower overall cognitive ability and lower math achievement compared with unaffected children when assessed 4 to 15 years after the index episode of Malaria.

Attention and reading scores did not differ, and outcomes among children with other forms of severe malaria were similar to unaffected children.

These findings indicate that specific severe malaria phenotypes are associated with persistent cognitive and academic effects into later childhood and adolescence, with implications for long-term follow-up and supportive services.

ESCMIDGlobal2026.

This descriptive analysis uses a subset of data from the Malarial Impact on Neurobehavioral Development (MIND) cohort study to assess whether severe malaria in Ugandan children is associated with long-term cognitive impairment or decreased academic achievement.